A Flour Pudding

I was drawn to “American Cookery” (1796) by Amelia Simmons because it is rumored to be the first American cook book.  Upon closer examination of the book (provided by Project Gutenberg) I saw that Simmons' "American Cookery" is not only a culinary gem, but a historical one. Simmons, an American orphan, wrote a lengthy introduction to her cook book explaining the reasons for its publication. The cook book was "for the improvement of the rising generation of Females in America" especially those that had been orphaned and those that "are reduced to the necessity of going into families in the line of domestics, or taking refuge with their friends or relations, and doing those things which are really essential to the perfecting them as good wives and useful members of society." The rest of Simmons' cook book reads more like a piece of literature than a recipe book. She details the intricacies of making the best bacon, of preparing a good Gooseberry Tart, and mixing the perfect syllabub. (A syllabub is an English desert in which milk or cream is curdled with wine or cider. Traditionally, the cow was milked directly into the bowl of wine! I hope to attempt a syllabub in the future.)

When I came across Ms. Simmons' Flour Pudding recipe, I decided it was worth a shot. The ingredients were simple enough and although there were some details missing (for instance, at what temperature to bake the pudding) I thought I'd go with my instincts. The recipe is as follows: 

Seven eggs, one quarter of a pound of sugar, and a tea spoon of salt, beat and put to one quart milk, 5 spoons of flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to your taste, bake half an hour, and serve up with sweet sauce.

The verdict: So I've come to realize that when old--very old--recipes say to bake for a "half an hour" that really means bake for as long as it takes. It took me about an hour and a half for the small ramekins and slightly longer for the larger ones. But the wait was worth it! Flour pudding is good. It's simple enough but warm and yummy. Since I wasn't quite sure what "sweet sauce" consisted of, I used a bit of maple syrup on top which, I felt, was a good choice. 


Even if you do not feel like attempting an hours-to-bake pudding like this, I would definitely suggest taking a look at Amelia's cook book, "American Cookery." It has a lot of interesting recipes and the introduction (a lengthy message for orphans, women, and wives) makes this cook book stand out from the rest.


Happy adventuring!